Montgomery police chief, management staff talk new security measures at Rt. 30 apartment complex following Sept. 19 homicide

Montgomery Police Chief Phil Smith told the Village Board Oct. 10 he recently had a productive meeting with the management staff of the Montgomery Place apartment complex following a Sept. 19 homicide at the complex.

Smith said the complex’s management staff was “very cooperative” during their meeting and indicated they plan to implement some of the security measures the Village Board has voiced support for, including the installation of security cameras along with the hiring of some on-site security.

“To quell some of the rumors,” Smith said, he also learned the management company did not lower the credit score requirement for tenants in an effort to fill the complex. “As a matter of fact, that apartment complex still has the highest standard for allowing people to rent there.”

Referring to the management staff, Smith said, “I think their biggest problem was communication with their tenants.”

Village President Matt Brolley described the complex, located just north of Route 30 in the 1000 block of Reading Drive on the village’s far east side, as a “beautiful facility” and said he believes the village has the management company’s commitment for making sure the homicide at the complex was an isolated event.

“We can’t control that, obviously,” Brolley continued, but said the village and the management company can make sure that all the steps are taken to prevent a re-occurrence.

Responding to a question from Trustee Tom Betsinger, Smith said the management staff did not provide a timetable for the installation of the security cameras and the hiring of security staff, but noted that he is scheduled to talk soon with a representative of the management company.

“I will follow up on that, Smith said.

Trustee Matt Bauman commended Smith for taking time to hold an impromptu meeting with complex residents following the Village Board’s Sept. 25 meeting.

Bauman said he received some positive feedback about the meeting and believes it was appreciated.

During the Sept. 25 Village Board meeting one resident, Nikole Torres-Turnage, told the board and village staff of a series of incidents at the complex that required a police response prior to the shooting death of 42-year-old Joshua Correa in his apartment at the complex six days earlier. Police, along with the Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force, are continuing their investigation of the case as a homicide.

Torres-Turnage said the prior incidents included a rash of catalytic converter thefts from vehicles parked at the complex over the winter, domestic incidents and fights.

Torres-Turnage urged the board to hold the apartment complex’s management company accountable for better security in the complex.

Reading from a prepared statement as several of her neighbors from the complex looked on, Torres-Turnage said, “I’m here to express my sincere dismay in the village for allowing a large development like this to be built, but the management company not be held accountable in any way for resident safety and well-being. The complex has given the village a black eye, one that I fear will only get worse if this kind of crime without intervention continues.”